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A corner in hand is worth two in the bush

The much-debated corner realignments at the intersections of Powell Butte Highway and Alfalfa Road, and Shumway Corner and Powell Butte Highway took an interesting turn last Wednesday. In a 2-1 vote, the Crook County Court made a decision which would allow the realignment of Powell Butte Highway and Alfalfa Road. What's more, according to Crook County Judge Scott Cooper, the county will only have to pay $15,000 for the entire project. Due to an agreement with Eagle Crest/Brasada Ranch, for the county's $15,000 investment, the developer will cover the rest of the cost for the the construction of the new corner. Commissioner Lynn Lundquist voted against the decision citing "fiscal responsibility" as his rationale. This left us a little confused. Prior to becoming a commissioner, when Lundquist was a member of a committee whose intent was to examine the options for fixing the two problem corners, he strongly advocated fixing the sight distance problem. However, the options at that time were going to cost Crook County anywhere between $1.8 million and $2.5 million - depending upon whose estimate you went by. It would seem to us that $15,000 is a much better deal than the previous estimates. It would seem to us that this makes good fiscal sense. Granted, the current agreement does absolutely nothing for solving the problem at the corner of Shumway Road and Powell Butte Highway, but it seems to us that getting at least one of the problem corners fixed - at a minimal cost to the county - is better than getting neither fixed in the hopes that somehow both could be fixed at the same time. There's an old saying that goes, "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush." It would seem in this instance, that for Crook County, a corner in hand is worth two in the bush.